dog running in a field with caption that says live like someone left the gate open

What If: God’s Dreams Were Your Dreams

The above image has been floating around the internet in various forms for a little while and I usually ignore this kind of cuteness. But I really like it! Maybe it’s that I’m a new dog owner. Maybe it’s that God has been working on me regarding my cynicism. Or maybe it’s because the sentiment is really, really true.

I have a dog that loves to run. When she runs full tilt she looks like she is hovering over the ground like a low flying plane. It’s why I call her Daisy the Wonder Dog. If I leave the gate open long enough, she will make a break for it. She really can’t help it, and I don’t blame her. When she’s running like that, she’s doing what she was made to do and it’s an absolute joy to watch.

Live like someone left the gate open.

I’ve begun a sermon series at the church called “What If”. I’m essentially asking a series of What If questions that amount to wondering what the Christian life would be like if the gospel were really true. I like the format of “what if” questions because they invite us to dream and imagine instead of making us feel like we aren’t up to snuff. I’m discovering that thinking this way is making room in my soul to believe God for this kind of life with Him.

This week’s What If was this:

“What if your dreams for your life were more than weak and misguided attempts to define yourself by something other than Jesus’ love and mercy towards you. What if your dreams for your life actually reflected the glory that God designed you for.

What if your dreams actually fit the “You” God made, instead of the “You” that has been shaped by brokenness and cynism?”

Read more…

2 days ago /  Tagged: 0
Wycliffe Bible Translators “Son of God” Controversy Explained

There is a growing controversy over Wycliffe Bible Translators and how they are dealing with some tricky concepts in their translations into Islamic languages and cultures.  I believe that most of the problems have to do with ignorance over how language works in different cultures, and how translation works in general.

I’m coming across an awful lot of rumor mill alarmists that are sharing things on Facebook and Twitter without really understanding what they are sharing.  What this amounts to is gossip.  Facebook and Twitter make gossip easy.  You can do it with the click of one “Like” button.

My concern is that in the end, all of this RT’ing and Liking will only result in delaying the Scripture getting to these people groups that so desperately need it.

The above article is an abridged version of this one, which is longer but more detailed.  Please share these articles whenever, wherever, you can.

Unabridged Article Shorter, Abridged Article More Resources

6 days ago /  Tagged: , , , 1
Mom and Child on Laptop

Keeping Your Children Safe on the Web

girlI have heard several stories over the past 6 months where young children have been exposed to hard core pornography on the internet. This was stuff that they didn’t go looking for. It came searching for them like some kind of wicked, sleazy stalker in the dark. Those parents were devastated and left trying to repair their little ones’ innocence and all of them wishing it had never happened.

These stories have left me very concerned that the world is moving faster than many parents are prepared for.

If this has happened to you and your child, please know that Jesus can and will restore that child’s innocence when you pray! Talk with your child and work through all of their questions. Then pray with them, and for them, and you will be amazed at how easily Jesus can wipe their little soul clean for a new start. The last thing you should do is start down a self-accusational road that makes you feel condemned and keeps you from ministering effectively to your child.

So, I want to address this in as helpful way as I can. I don’t normally write blog posts that are this long or this detailed, but I really believe this is an important and timely issue. If you have young children, or have friends that do, please take the time to read through this and pass it on.
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7 days ago /  Tagged: , , , , , 2
worship signals infographic

Worship Signals Infographic – Tim Hawkins Explains Various Worship Styles

This is hilarious to me.  I like to alternate between “hold my baby” and “Rocky”.  I’ll go to a relaxed “carry the tv” when my arms get tired.

Which position is your default?

11 days ago 1

Kirk is Climbing a Mountain, American Idol and Other Misperceptions

This is funny.  Like, watch it 8 times and laugh a little too loudly in Starbucks funny.  I watched this several times myself.  Then I started to wonder how William Shatner could ever think this was normal, cool, or interesting when he filmed it.  Certainly, the editing makes it more funny but it’s obvious that the original would have been bazaar on its own.  He’s such an over-actor that ANYTHING he says sounds a little loopy.

The only way that William Shatner could over-act so heavily is if in his own mind he thinks he is actually spot on.  In other words, his perception of what he is doing is completely different from everyone else’s.  He must have been thinking, “I’m really in my acting prime now.  All that Star Trek stuff was just a stepping stone to this ‘Climbing the Mountain” work.”  Well… maybe he wasn’t thinking that exactly, but you get the idea.

Read more…

13 days ago 1

You don’t have any baggage.  What you have is a testimony.  When Jesus looks at your past, he doesn’t see a pile of heavy baggage.  What He sees are signs of a life lived as a recipient of His eternal mercy and love.  The moment He comes into our hearts, He transforms our baggage into testimonies.  He then points to our past and says, “This is what my love can do.  This is Who I am.  I transform orphans into sons and daughters.”

14 days ago 1

The Bride of Christ: Ready or Not

Church, we are more than we have been told.  We are more than brick and mortar, more than saccharine lyrics to re-run melodies.  We are more than religious self-help, whose greatest hope is to survive.  We are more than dreamers in pursuit of dreams that are bound to our small imaginations.  We are more than an institution that has lost its relevancy and is struggling to rebuild its tower of Babel.

We are the Bride of Christ.  Loved beyond measure, with no borders to His patience, forgiveness, and grace.  We are never beyond repair. Never out of the reach of His transformation.

I believe the Church in America is being romanced by Jesus.  We are being redefined as His Bride, and only His Bride.  We are being ravished by Him – called by name.

This spoken word poem/skit reminds me of who I am as a friend of God.  I hope it does the same for you.

22 days ago 0
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